| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
Department of Veterinary Pathology (JY, 1 HY, ,1, MI, MK, TK, SS), Veterinary Anatomy (YT), Veterinary Surgery (FO), Veterinary Internal Medicine (TM), College of Agriculture, Osaka Prefecture University, Gakuencho 1-1, Sakai, Osaka, Japan and Second Department of Pathology, Kumamoto University School of Medicine, Kumamoto, Japan (MT)
| Abstract |
|---|
|
|
|---|
Key words: Domestic animals; immunocytochemistry; macrophage; macrophage-specific antibody.
Macrophages play an important role in inflammation and tumor immunology.23,29 The roles of macrophages in pathologic conditions remain to be evaluated. Immunocytochemical staining with monoclonal antibodies specifically recognizing macrophages is very useful for detection of these cells appearing in diverse lesions.24,33,35
In the last decade, monoclonal antibodies specific to macrophages have been generated. In particular, in humans and laboratory animals, several well-characterized antibodies recognizing macrophages have been reported, and these antibodies are commercially available including CD68 for humans;7,10 ED1, ED2, and ED3 for rats;5,6 and F4/80, Mac-1 (M1/70), Mac-2, and Mac-3 for mice.1,21,29,30 In contrast, to the best of our knowledge, few useful monoclonal antibodies specifically stain monocytes and macrophages in domestic animals such as dogs, cats, horses, cattle, and pigs. Recently, M. Takeya and his colleague developed a novel monoclonal antibody, named AM-3K, by using human pulmonary macrophages as the immunogen.35 AM-3K immunocytochemically stains most macrophages in human tissues except for blood monocytes and dendritic cell populations.35 More interestingly, AM-3K was found to react to macrophages present in the spleen and lymph nodes of dogs, cats, horses, cattle, pigs, monkeys, guinea pigs, and rabbits, suggesting broad interspecies reactivity of this antibody.34,35 AM-3K seems to be useful for detection of macrophages in such animal species. However, macrophage populations recognized by AM-3K and the distribution of positive cells in the whole body have not been established in these animals species. In the present study, in order to evaluate the usefulness of AM-3K, the detailed distributions of AM-3Kimmunopositive cells in normal and diseased tissues in dogs, cats, horses, cattle, pigs, and rabbits were investigated.
| Materials and Methods |
|---|
|
|
|---|
Production of AM-3K has been described.34,35 The molecular weights of the antigen recognized by AM-3K in human macrophage lysates were 120 kd and 70 kd, and the isotype of AM-3K was immunoglobulin (IgG)1, kappa.
Tissue and cell preparation
The following normal tissues without any histopathologic lesions were prepared from autopsied or surgically resected cases of dogs, cats, horses, cattle, pigs, and rabbits: liver, kidneys, lungs, heart, thymus, spleen, lymph nodes, pancreas, small and large intestines, skin, brain (cerebrum and cerebellum), spinal cord, and bone marrow. Inflammatory or tumor lesions obtained from dogs at autopsy or biopsy were examined as pathologic tissues. The inflammatory lesions involved liver fibrosis (n = 4), nonsuppurative interstitial nephritis (4), encephalomalacia (2), cutaneous granulomas (2), and arthritis (1). Tumor tissues examined consisted of malignant melanomas (3), malignant fibrous histiocytoma (MFH) (1), hemangiopericytomas (3), malignant schwannomas (2), fibrosarcoma (1), leiomyosarcoma (1), rhabdomyosarcoma (1), osteosarcoma (1), urinary bladder transitional cell carcinoma with bone metaplasia (1), mast cell tumors (2), and cutaneous histiocytomas (3); the criteria of diagnosis was based on those described by Moulton.16 These samples were fixed in 10% neutral buffered formalin or in Zamboni's fixative (0.21% picric acid, 2% paraformaldehyde, and 130 mM phosphate buffer, pH 7.4) for 13 days, embedded in paraffin, and sectioned at 35 µm. Sections were stained with hematoxylin and eosin for histopathologic examinations. They were also stained immunocytochemically with AM-3K as described below. To identify osteoclasts, selected sections from transitional cell carcinoma with bone metaplasia and osteosarcoma were histochemically stained by the tartrate-resistant acid phosphate staining.8,22
Smears of peripheral blood cells from healthy dogs were made on slide glasses. The slides were fixed with cold acetone for 5 minutes, and stained for AM-3K immunocytochemistry.
Pulmonary macrophages were collected by bronchoalveolar lavage of healthy dogs and cats, and peritoneal macrophages were obtained from dogs with heart failure. These cells were incubated in culture flasks (75 mm2 in surface area) for 3 hours at 37 C in a humidified 5% CO2 incubator. The medium used was RPMI 1640 (Nissui, Tokyo, Japan) supplemented with 10% bovine fetal serum (Bioserum, UBC, Japan), 0.03% L-glutamine (Nissui), penicillin (100 U/ml), and streptomycin (100 µg/ml). After removing nonadherent cells, attached cells were collected for immunoelectron microscopy and Western blot analysis. In other experiments, pulmonary and peritoneal macrophages were cultured in chamber flasks in the same medium, and then they were fixed with cold acetone for 5 minutes and stained for immunocytochemistry with AM-3K.
Immunocytochemistry
According to previous papers,34,35 cryostat tissue sections that were fixed with 2% periodatelysineparaformaldehyde solution, or tissue sections that were fixed in buffered formalin solution and then processed routinely for paraffin embedding, were recommended for use for immunocytochemistry with AM-3K. First, in the present study, formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue sections were evaluated for AM-3K immunostaining. However, the immunostaining results on such sections for AM-3K were unstable, as mentioned by Zeng et al.35 Because our laboratory has used Zamboni's solution as a fixative for immunostaining,27 we tried to fix tissue samples in Zamboni's solution, and found that this fixative is more appropriate for immunocytochemistry using the AM-3K antibody.
Zamboni's solutionfixed, paraffin-embedded tissue sections were immunostained by using the indirect immunoperoxidase method. Briefly, after treatments with 0.1% trypsin solution at 37 C for 15 minutes, sections were incubated with 3% H2O2 to quench endogenous peroxidase and then with 1.5% skim milk for 40 minutes at room temperature to inhibit nonspecific reactions. Thereafter, the sections were reacted for 2448 hours at 4 C with culture supernatant (1:1) of AM-3K or ascites diluted 1:100 as a primary antibody.34 The peroxidase-conjugated sheep anti-mouse Ig (Fab')2 fragment diluted 1:100 (Amersham, Poole, UK) was reacted to sections for 1.5 hours at 37 C as a secondary antibody. The positive reactions resulted in brown staining with the substrate 3,3'-diaminobenzidine tetrahydrochloride (DAB), and the sections were counterstained with hematoxylin. Similar immunostaining results could be obtained by using the avidinbiotin complex (ABC) method, in which labeled streptavidin biotin (LSAB) kit (DAKO, Santa Barbara, CA, USA) was used.26 Briefly, the sections were incubated with AM-3K as described above, followed by the application of ABC reagents for 30 minutes at room temperature; the products were visualized with DAB. Pulmonary and peritoneal macrophages fixed in acetone were also immunostained by the ABC method. Tissue sections that were incubated with phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) or mouse nonimmune sera instead of primary antibody were used as negative controls.
An antibody against lysozyme has been used to detect macrophages in domestic animals.18,25 In order to compare AM-3Kpositive cells with lysozyme-immunopositive cells, the double immunocytochemical stainings were carried out on hepatic fibrosis sections. The sections were first incubated with AM-3K, processed by the ABC method, and then immersed in DAB to yield a brown reaction product. Sections were then reacted with anti-lysozyme polyclonal antibody (undiluted; DAKO) for 14 hours at 4 C, and incubated with a secondary antibody of peroxidase-conjugated affinipure goat anti-rabbit IgG (H+L) (1:5,000; Jackson Immunoresearch Laboratory, West Grove, PA, USA) for 1 hour at 37 C. The positive reactions for anti-lysozyme antibody were stained blue with true blue-peroxidase substrate (Kirkegaard & Perry Laboratories, Gaithersburg, Maryland, USA). An antibody against S-100 protein labels dendritic cells in lymph nodes as well as neural tissues such as neural, glial, and Schwann cells.4,35 The double immunocytochemistry with AM-3K and rabbit anticow S-100 protein antibody (undiluted; DAKO) was conducted on lymph nodes obtained from dogs and cattle. After the immunostaining with antiS-100 protein antibody by ABC methods, the immunostaining with AM-3K was carried out using the alkaline phosphatase anti-alkaline phosphatase (APAAP Kit, DAKO) methods. Thus, the positive products for antiS-100 protein antibody were stained brown, and those for AM-3K were red.
Immunoelectron microscopy
Pulmonary macrophages collected as described above were fixed in 2.5% buffered glutaraldehyde for 30 minutes, and immunostained by the indirect immunoperoxidase method. Briefly, after treatment with 1.5% skim milk for 3 hours at room temperature, cell pellets were incubated with AM-3K for 2 days at 4 C, and subsequently with the secondary antibody described above for 3 hours at room temperature. They were immersed in DAB solution, and the DAB reaction was performed by adding 3% H2O2. The reacted cells were then postfixed with 1% osmium tetroxide for 1 hour. The cell pellets were dehydrated with alcohol and embedded in epoxy resin, according to the usual procedures for electron microscopy.32 The ultrathin sections were observed in an electron microscope (Hitachi H-600, Tokyo, Japan) at 75 kV.
Protein extraction and Western blot analysis
Protein extraction and Western blot analysis were carried out according to the methods described by Tsukamoto et al.27 Freshly isolated pulmonary or peritoneal macrophages of dogs and cats were homogenized in PBS with a polytron homogenizer. The homogenate was centrifuged at 15,000 rpm for 10 minutes at 4 C. The pellets were solubilized by incubation in 10 mM Tris-acetate buffer (pH 8.0) (including 1 mM ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid and 0.5% Nonidet P-40) for 2.5 hours at room temperature on a rotating shaker and then centrifuged at 40,000 rpm for 90 min. The resultant solubilized membrane fractions were analyzed by Western blotting. The samples were separated in 10% sodium dodecyl sulfatepolyacrylamide gels under reducing or nonreducing conditions, and electrotransferred to a polyvinyl difluoride (PVDF) membrane. The blots were blocked with 2% skim milk in 10 mM Tris-HC1 buffer (pH 8.0) containing 150 mM NaCl (TS buffer), and incubated with AM-3K supernatant (1:2) for 1 hour at room temperature. After washing with TS buffer containing 0.05% Tween 20 four times and then with TS buffer three times, the blots were incubated in biotinylated anti-mouse IgG and in avidin-biotinylated peroxidase complex (LSAB Kit). Peroxidase activity was visualized using DAB as a substrate. For molecular size in kd, a prestained marker was electrotransferred on the PVDF membrane.
| Results |
|---|
|
|
|---|
The distribution of AM-3Kimmunopositive macrophages in lymphoid organs is shown in Table 1. The distribution patterns were very similar among animal species examined. In the spleen, AM-3Kpositive cells were frequently seen in the red pulp, whereas the number of AM-3Kpositive cells was very small in the white pulp (germinal center, mantle zone, and marginal zone) (Fig. 1). In the lymph node, many AM-3Kpositive cells were present in the subcapsular and medullary sinuses (Fig. 2), and infrequently in the lymphoid follicle (germinal center and paracortical zone). These AM-3Kpositive cells in the splenic red pulp and subcapsular and medullary sinuses in the lymph node were large and round or oval in shape. In the thymus, AM-3Kpositive cells were more frequently seen in the medulla than in the cortex. In these organs, spindle-shaped tissue macrophages reacting to AM-3K were sporadically seen in the capsule and interstitial connective tissues (trabecules in the spleen and lymph node). In the lymph node, the double immunostainings revealed that S-100 proteinpositive interdigitating cells in the paracortex and sinuses did not react to AM-3K (Fig. 2).
|
|
|
In inflammatory lesions (liver fibrosis, interstitial nephritis, encephalomalacia, cutaneous granuloma, and arthritis), many infiltrating macrophages were intensely stained with AM-3K. Interestingly, gitter cells seen in encephalomalacia were reactive for AM-3K, some of which were rod-shaped; however, gitter cells that did not react to AM-3K were also present in the lesion (Fig. 8). In fibrotic livers, infiltrating macrophages labeled with both AM-3K and anti-lysozyme antibody, or macrophages reacting to either AM-3K or anti-lysozyme antibody were present (Fig. 9). Neoplastic cells of malignant melanoma, hemangiopericytoma, malignant schwannoma, fibrosarcoma, leiomyosarcoma, rhabdomyosarcoma, osteosarcoma, mast cell tumor, and transitional cell carcinoma were negative for AM-3K, but reactive macrophages in and around tumor tissues were positive for AM-3K. Neoplastic cells of MFH and canine cutaneous histiocytomas were also negative for AM-3K, but a small number of infiltrating macrophages reacted with AM-3K. Multinucleated osteoclasts seen in a osteosarcoma and metaplastic bone formation in a transitional cell carcinoma were negative for AM-3K (Fig. 10); these osteoclasts were positively stained by the tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase staining, indicating that these cells are osteoclasts.8,22
Immunoelectron microscopic localization of AM-3K
AM-3K immunoreaction products were seen on the cytoplasmic membrane of canine pulmonary macrophages (Fig. 11).
|
Under reducing conditions, AM-3K stained one band with a molecular weight of approximately 70 kd in membrane fractions from peritoneal and pulmonary macrophages of dogs and cats (Fig. 12). Under nonreducing conditions, no positive band against AM-3K was detected (data not shown).
|
| Discussion |
|---|
|
|
|---|
Macrophages encompass exudate macrophages, resident macrophages (so-called histiocytes), and cells differentiating into dendritic cells.6,23,28 Although controversy still remains over the derivation and the relationship between these macrophage subpopulations, the development, differentiation, and maturation of these types of macrophages are different from each other.6,23,28 The exudate macrophages are derived from blood monocytes through monocytic lineage from hematopoietic stem cells. Ontogenetically, the precursors of resident macrophages migrate from bone marrow into connective tissues and then differentiate into resident macrophages. The precursors of dendritic cells are still unclear. The dendritic cell populations include interstitial dendritic cells, interdigitating cells in the lymph node, and Langerhans cells of the epidermis.23,28
In humans, AM-3K reacted with most macrophages in the lymph node, thymus and red pulp of the spleen, and with interstitial macrophages in connective tissues of various organs and sites.35 Analysis of our data showed that the distribution of AM-3Kimmunopositive macrophages in lymphoid organs and nonlymphoid organs and sites of dogs, cats, horses, cattle, pigs, and rabbits was generally similar to that in humans (Tables 1, 2). In humans, infiltrating macrophages in atherosclerosis, Gauchers's disease, and some tumors were also positive for AM-3K.35 In the present study, macrophages infiltrating in inflamed sites and neoplastic lesions were reactive for AM-3K. These findings suggest that AM-3K reacts with most resident and exudate macrophages in humans as well as the animal species examined here.
Although infiltrating macrophages are considered to be recruited from blood monocytes and/or resident macrophages,23 AM-3K did not react with blood monocytes of dogs. In humans, blood monocytes were also negative for AM-3K.35 Only 3050% of pulmonary and peritoneal macrophages from dogs and cats were labeled with AM-3K. In fibrotic livers, macrophages labeled with anti-lysozyme antibody did not always correspond to AM-3Kpositive cells; some macrophages were positive for both anti-lysozyme antibody and AM-3K. The expression of antigens recognized by AM-3K on macrophages may be dependent on the differentiation stage or be evoked by microenvironmental conditions. AM-3K has been speculated to label an epitope of macrophages at the late maturation stage.35
Microglial cells are a special kind of macrophage.23,29 Perivascular (Mato's cells) and perineural resting (ramified) microglial cells exist in the brain and spinal cord; these cells may be derived from circulating monocytes or precursor cells related to the monocytemacrophage lineage that originate in the bone marrow and settle in the brain tissue during embryonic life.3,9,14,20 In the present study, perivascular microglial cells were positive for AM-3K, but no reactivity for AM-3K was found in perineural resting microglia in the parenchyma. Gitter cells in encephalomalacia gave positive reactions for AM-3K, but not all cells reacted to AM-3K. Gitter cells may be derived from resting microglial cells.3,12 Reactive microglia in diseased brain develop elongated shapes and are called rod cells.12 AM-3Kpositive, rod-shaped cells were seen in encephalomalacia. These findings reflect the heterogeneity of microglial cells, only some of which express the AM-3K antigen.
Kupffer cells in the liver are a type of resident macrophage.23,28 Kupffer cells of humans35 as well as in dogs, cats, and horses in this study reacted to AM-3K. On the contrary, Kupffer cells of cattle, pigs, and rabbits did not react with AM-3K, a finding confirmed by Zeng et al.34 for rabbits and guinea pigs. Heterogeneity seemed to occur in AM-3K immunoreactivities of Kupffer cells between animal species. In cattle, rabbits, and guinea pigs that revealed a negative reaction of Kupffer cells to AM-3K, most macrophages in the lymph node and spleen and interstitial macrophages in various organs and sites were reactive for AM-3K (Tables 1, 2). Macrosialin, which is located on the cell membrane of mouse macrophages, is a homologue of human macrophage glycoprotein CD68. The expression of CD68 antigen was found to be more restricted in dendritic cells than in tissue macrophages in the mouse.11 Therefore, the expression of antigens recognized by AM-3K on Kupffer cells might be restricted in cattle, pigs, and rabbits, presumably depending on biochemical or functional differences of these antigens.
AntiS-100 protein antibody is used for detecting interdigitating cells in the lymph node.4,32,35 The present double immunostaining of lymph nodes failed to demonstrate that antiS-100 protein antibodypositive interdigitating cells correspond to AM-3Kpositive cells. Our findings that no cells were reacting to AM-3K in the epidermis suggest negative reactions of Langerhans cells to AM-3K. Likewise, in humans, AM-3K did not react with dendritic cell populations.35 In addition, osteoclasts showed no reaction to AM-3K, although osteoclasts are generated from blood monocytes.8,23 Neoplastic cells of MFH and canine cutaneous histiocytoma have been considered to have a histiocytic nature;16,18,25 however, these tumor cells were negative for AM-3K.
In short, the present study demonstrated that AM-3K reacts with most exudate and resident macrophages, alveolar macrophages, and perivascular microglia in dogs, cats, horses, cattle, pigs, and rabbits, and that the expression of antigens recognized by AM-3K may depend on functional differences or different maturation stages. Furthermore, AM-3K characteristically reacts with Kupffer cells of dogs, cats, and horses. In contrast, blood monocytes, dendritic cell populations, and osteoclasts were not labeled by AM-3K immunostaining.
In humans, CD68 antibodies such as EBM/11, KP1, and Ki-M6 are considered to be the most reliable markers for detection of monocytes and macrophages.7,10,13,17,19 However, the tissue distribution of CD68-positive cells is different from that of AM-3Kpositive cells; the CD68 antibodies recognize dendritic cell populations and blood monocytes as well as exudate and tissue macrophages.35 Several antibodies including PM-2K,24 X4,31 X14,31 Ber-MAC3,2 and EBM/1113 showed various interspecies reactivities for macrophages in domestic and laboratory animals.34 Most of these antibodies must be applied on cryostat sections, and distribution of positive cells throughout the body in domestic animals has not been determined. Immunocytochemical stainings with AM-3K can be performed on Zamboni's solutionfixed, paraffin-embedded sections; this method provides more well-conserved histology than cryostat sections. AM-3K may become a useful antibody to detect exudate and resident macrophages in various pathologic conditions in the animal species examined in the present study.
| Footnotes |
|---|
Request AM-3K from Dr. M. Takeya, Second Department of Pathology, Kumamoto University School of Medicine, 2-2-1 Honjo, Kumamoto 8600811 (Japan). E-mail: takeya{at}kaiju.medic.kumamoto-u.ac.jp. ![]()
| References |
|---|
|
|
|---|
![]()
CiteULike
Complore
Connotea
Del.icio.us
Digg
Facebook
Reddit
Technorati
Twitter What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
![]() |
Y. Mori, T. Izawa, S. Takenaka, M. Kuwamura, and J. Yamate Participation of Functionally Different Macrophage Populations and Monocyte Chemoattractant Protein-1 in Early Stages of Thioacetamide-induced Rat Hepatic Injury Toxicol Pathol, June 1, 2009; 37(4): 463 - 473. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
Y. Komohara, J. Hirahara, T. Horikawa, K. Kawamura, E. Kiyota, N. Sakashita, N. Araki, and M. Takeya AM-3K, an Anti-macrophage Antibody, Recognizes CD163, a Molecule Associated with an Anti-inflammatory Macrophage Phenotype J. Histochem. Cytochem., July 1, 2006; 54(7): 763 - 771. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
J. Yamate, Y. Machida, M. Ide, M. Kuwamura, T. Kotani, O. Sawamoto, and J. LaMarre Cisplatin-Induced Renal Interstitial Fibrosis in Neonatal Rats, Developing as Solitary Nephron Unit Lesions Toxicol Pathol, February 1, 2005; 33(2): 207 - 217. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
A. B. Rogers, C. K. Mathiason, and E. A. Hoover Immunohistochemical Localization of Feline Immunodeficiency Virus Using Native Species Antibodies Am. J. Pathol., October 1, 2002; 161(4): 1143 - 1151. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
J. Yamate, K. Sato, M. Ide, M. Nakanishi, M. Kuwamura, S. Sakuma, and S. Nakatsuji Participation of Different Macrophage Populations and Myofibroblastic Cells in Chronically Developed Renal Interstitial Fibrosis after Cisplatin-induced Renal Injury in Rats Vet. Pathol., May 1, 2002; 39(3): 322 - 333. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |